MCC News

Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation Awards $1.5 Million Grant to MCC Foundation to Strengthen Workforce Pipeline (03/13/2019)

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – March 13, 2019 – The Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation has awarded the Monroe Community College Foundation a $1.5 million grant to help fund an MCC pilot project aimed at increasing the number of area students completing career technical education (CTE) programs and reversing the skills shortage in western New York.

The grant enables MCC and its project partners to address a persistent, and growing, gap locally and nationally between unfilled jobs and the talent pool available to fill them. In the Finger Lakes region, the advanced manufacturing sector alone has an estimated 2,110 job openings annually; currently over 1,800 of these positions are going unfilled because of a shortage of qualified workers.

The project’s goal is to increase the pool of technicians in western New York for occupations involving robotics/automation, mechatronics, precision machining, skilled trades, and optics fabrication. Career pathways will be aligned with workforce demands of high-need industry sectors in the region.

“Through strategic partnerships and collaboration with educational and industry partners, Monroe Community College has developed an innovative approach in workforce development that we’re excited to support in this pilot phase to learn firsthand its potential for impact,” said Lavea Brachman, vice president of programs, Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation. “Expanding access to quality CTE programs is a key investment strategy for the Foundation as we look to connect young adults with more opportunities to sustainable career pathways and good-paying jobs.”

Led by MCC’s Economic and Workforce Development Center, project partners include BOCES, career tech-focused charter high schools, Greece Central School District, Rochester City School District and regional Workforce Investment Boards; partnerships will increase as the project evolves. Working together, the project aims to serve 230 students over the next three years. The grant includes funding for students’ tuition, books and supplies. Funding partners for the pilot project include Monroe County through its LadderzUp program, KeyBank Foundation and the BOCES Technical Career Centers.

“We are grateful to the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation for its support of our vision to create opportunities for economic and social mobility, and in strengthening our region’s economy,” said MCC President Anne M. Kress. “We know that some postsecondary education is needed for meaningful and sustaining employment. MCC plays a central role in removing barriers so that individuals and communities can build stronger futures.”

More about the MCC career pathways project
To bridge the skills gaps impacting the region, MCC and its project partners will develop an innovative system of CTE career pathways—a series of building blocks linking secondary and postsecondary students with MCC academic programs, wraparound services and employers. Students will participate in hands-on, skill-based programs and receive various support services to help them stay on track to achieving their educational goals and employment.

At the core of the pathways are stackable credentials that enable individuals to earn credentials through short-term programs and progress toward an associate degree. At pivotal points in their academic career, students may opt to pause from their studies to pursue employment opportunities. With stackable credentials, learners can stop out to gain some work experience and re-enter college seamlessly when they’re ready to pursue the next level of credentials. Graduates will be equipped with skills that employers require today and anticipate a need for in tomorrow’s workplace.

“Thanks to the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation’s support, youth and adult learners in our region will gain the skills necessary to thrive in the 21^st-century workplace and improve their economic well-being,” said Dr. Todd Oldham, vice president of Economic and Workforce Development and Career Technical Education at MCC. “To help solve our region’s skills gap, we must be agile in the way we deliver education. The CTE pathways system will catalyze the rapidly growing fields of integrated manufacturing, robotics, optics-photonics and mechatronics within the Finger Lakes region’s economy.”

“Through its generous support of MCC’s Career Technical Education Pathways System, the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation is creating life-changing opportunities that will empower future MCC students to pursue the education they need to start rewarding careers, support families, and fulfill their potential,” said Gretchen Wood, chief advancement officer and executive director of the MCC Foundation.

The Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation grant is part of the MCC Foundation’s Every Bright Future Needs a Strong Foundation campaign, a $50 million effort designed to increase the number of scholarships available to MCC students and help grow the local economy through a well-educated and technically sophisticated workforce. To date, including the Wilson Foundation grant, the campaign has raised $42 million.

MCC will lead in the implementation of the pathways, a model designed for replication in participating schools.